Friday, January 15, 2010

Potato Tortilla w. Artichokes & Red Peppers

Yes, it's been a while, Happy 2010! We're openly begging for your forgiveness for our total lack of Two Blue Lemon love lately but, you see, things have been going on! One of the two lemons has been traveling around to lovely warm climates while the other has been traveling around to lovely, not so warm, climates and is working on a big project that will be announced later this month...so stick with us!

To usher in 2010, and to fully embrace this gray miserable thing called New England Winter, I recently whipped up my first Spanish tortilla! A dinner like this makes total sense in the middle of January - when the Providence Winters Market is plump with beautiful multicolored potatoes and heaps of farm fresh eggs. Throw in some vegetables that were jarred at their peak (six months ago!) and voila - Potato Tortilla w. Artichokes & Red Peppers!Potato Tortilla w. Artichokes & Red Peppers:From The New Spanish TableGreat warm, great room temperature. Great for dinner (with a simple salad), great for brunch, great cut into small wedges for a cocktail party.

*I highly recommend using a non-stick skillet for this...if not a total egg/sticky/cooking emotional meltdown may occur.

1. Heat 2 tablespoons of the olive oil in a medium-sized skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until limp but not brown, 3 to 5 minutes. Add the potato and cook, stirring gently, for 5 minutes. Stir in the artichokes and peppers and cook, stirring, for another 2 to 3 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the vegetable mixture to a bowl and let cool completely. 2. Place the eggs, vegetable stock, and a few small pinches of salt in a medium-sized bowl and beat until just scrambled. Add the potato mixture and mix until well combined. Let stand for about 10 minutes. 3. Heat 5 teaspoons of the reserved olive oil in a heavy 8-inch skillet, preferably nonstick, over medium-high heat until it is just beginning to smoke. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and flatten the potatoes with a spatula until the top is fairly even. Reduce the heat to medium-low. Cook, moving and shaking the skillet, running a thin spatula around the edge and sliding it into the middle so that some of the egg runs under for about one minute, then let it cook undisturbed until the top is a little wet but not liquid, 6 to 8 minutes.
4. Run the thin spatula under the tortilla to make sure that no part of the bottom is stuck to the skillet. Top the skillet with a rimless plate slightly larger than the skillet and, using oven mitts, quickly invert the tortilla onto the plate. If the skillet looks dry, add a little more olive oil. Carefully slide the tortilla back into the skillet, uncooked side down. Shake the skillet to straighten the tortilla and push the edges in with the spatula. Reduce the heat to very low and cook the tortilla until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out dry, 3 to 4 minutes. Invert the tortilla again, as before, to cook on the first side for another minute.
5. Invert the tortilla onto a serving plate and pat the top with a paper towel to get rid of excess oil. Let it cool a little, then cut the tortilla into wedges and serve warm or at room temperature. To serve as a tapa, cut the tortilla into squares and serve with toothpicks.

5 comments:

Looks deeeelish! I remember back in the day in Spain when I was vegetarian (pre-vegan days) tortilla española was the only thing I ate! Sooooo yummy! Something about that potato-egg combo is magical. Love ya!